Selling A Property
We recognise that, for many people, buying or selling a house can be a hugely stressful experience. Our Residential Property team has a friendly and professional approach. We ensure that your sale, purchase or both proceeds as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Are you..We recognise that, for many people, buying or selling a house can be a hugely stressful experience. Our Residential Property team has a friendly and professional approach. We ensure that your sale, purchase or both proceeds as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Are you..We recognise that, for many people, buying or selling a house can be a hugely stressful experience. Our Residential Property team has a friendly and professional approach. We ensure that your sale, purchase or both proceeds as quickly and smoothly as possible.
The Key Stages of a Sale
- Obtain your Title Documents (electronically if Registered at Land Registry) and prepare a Contract for Sale.
- Issue a Property Information Form and Fixtures Fittings Form for you to complete.
- Deal with enquiries raised by your buyers legal adviser and finalise the terms of the Contract for Sale.
- We will arrange to meet with you or alternatively report to you on the terms of the Contract and obtain your signature.
- When everyone in the chain is ready, Exchange Contracts on your sale. At this point you are committed to sell.
- We carry out pre-completion arrangements which include (where applicable) obtaining a redemption figure for your existing Mortgage and prepare a Completion Statement for your approval.
- On Completion Day you will be required to vacate the property. We will receive the purchase money from your sale; Pay off your existing Mortgage and/or Settle the Estate Agents Account (where applicable); The balance will be paid to you.
Please click here for further details about timescales.
Sellers Document Checklist
EPC
It is a legal requirement is you are selling a property that you provide an Energy Performance Certificate (“EPC”). This should be done via your estate agent, however, if you are selling privately, please let us know and we can point you in the right direction. EPCs last for a period of 10 years.
Gas & Electric
If you have installed a new boiler at the property or attended to some re-wiring since 1st January 2005 you will have to provide a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate or Electric Report. If you do not have these, it is a good time to make contact with the contractor to obtain a duplicate.
Protocol Forms
We will be sending you a few standard questionnaires for you to complete and return. Please answer these forms to the best of your knowledge as the information you give can be relied on by the buyer.
Deeds
We will need to know as soon as possible the whereabouts of your deeds and if they are with a bank or building society, the name, branch and any reference or mortgage account number. Please make sure that you let us have details of all mortgages and loans which may be charged against your property.
Sellers Insurance
You should maintain sufficient building insurance on your property until completion of the sale. The buyer will start their buildings insurance on the date of exchange of contracts, however, should anything happen to the property between exchange and completion, you still need to be covered.
Meters & Charges
It will be your responsibility before completion to arrange for any telephone, electricity, gas, water council tax and water rates to be settled to the date of completion. Don’t forget to notify the utility companies of your new correspondence address on completion.
Rubbish
Please ensure that all rubbish is removed from the property on or before completion to include rubbish in the garages, outbuildings, cellar and the loft. If you do not remove all items then you could be seen to be breaching the contract.
Keys
We will authorise the release of this set of keys to the purchaser when the purchase monies have landed in our bank account. Once completion has taken place we will call the estate agents and release the keys. Please let the estate agents have at least one set of keys on or before the completion date. In the event that the agents are online, perhaps you want to arrange with the buyer to hand over the keys direct.
Frequently Asked Questions
On exchange of contracts you will become legally bound to sell or buy the property. Until exchange of contracts there is no legal liability on either the buyer or seller to complete the transaction. Once exchange of contracts has taken place no parties can pull out, therefore it is vital that you are satisfied with all preliminary matters.
Exchange of contracts is where all parties become legally bound to a fixed completion date. For this to take place all parties in the chain are ready, all documents are signed, a completion date has been agreed and the buyer has paid their deposit.
We would not advise that you pay for any professional moving companies until the exchange has taken place because, as stated previously, any parties can still pull out of the transaction.
We have no objection to liaising with a client’s family member aiding in a transaction but instructions must be provided by the person selling or buying.
The date of completion is the date when you must give up possession of any property you are selling or gain occupation of the property you are buying. On completion the balance of sale/purchase monies are dealt with by solicitors.
Once the money has landed in the seller’s solicitor’s bank account, this is when formal completion has taken place and the buyer is entitled to a set of keys.
We recognise that not everyone is as mobile as they would like. We can, and do, where the circumstances require it, arrange to meet people at their home to sign documents. Our premises are, in any event, disabled friendly.